Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have crooned ‘Hey Jude’ at the Negev Dinner over the weekend, but some of his caucus are singing a different Beatles tune: ‘Revolution’. Ontario MP Michael Chong is introducing a private member’s bill Dec. 3 that would change the way Conservative candidates, committee chairs — and even party leaders — are chosen.

The legislation would wrest power away from the prime minister to approve local candidates, and would empower MPs to call and execute a direct leadership review. In today’s climate of scandal and PMO central control, such ideas carry more than a whiff of mutiny about them. The bill apparently has piqued so much interest that Chong is moving up its debut from Thursday, presumably to give it more play before Parliament shuts down in a week and a half for the holiday break.

While Chong is not talking publicly before the bill is introduced, others are. The prime minister’s chief Mini-Me, Parliamentary Secretary Paul Calandra, defended the Tories’ record with these curiously chosen words: “Look, if you want to be a good MP, you want to do your job, you want to have an impact in this place, it doesn’t matter what party you’re in, you can … You want to be lazy, and you want to blame other people for your inability to get things done, you can also be that type of MP.”

Hmm. Chong, of course, is the farthest thing from lazy — or someone who doesn’t get things done. He is also a rare politician of conviction, and a staunch champion of the role of MPs in the party system.

In 2006 Chong quit cabinet rather than support the Conservatives’ motion to recognize the Quebecois as a nation within Canada. Chong did so not only because he believed no part of the country should have special status, but also because, as intergovernmental affairs minister, he hadn’t even been consulted on the plan — an example of PMO central control that was but a harbinger of things to come.

Leaders who reach their electoral best-before date have been turfed by their caucuses in parliaments from Australia to Great Britain. The late Dame Maggie Thatcher was not immune; there is no reason to assume that Stephen Harper would be either …

In 2010, Chong proposed a set of reforms for question period. He suggested lengthening the times for questions, requiring ministers to be present a set number of days in the House to respond, and breaking the House leaders’ monopoly on question allocation by allowing the Speaker to recognize MPs from the floor. In short, he wanted to make QP a more responsive and democratic exercise, instead of reducing backbenchers to a glorified applause section.

Add those voices to a chorus of others — including senators speaking on and off the record — who feel that Harper’s office is on a mission to kill the Senate simply to cover up its own malfeasance, and you have a lot of people offering Harper a reason to take a walk in the snow.

The odds of Chong’s bill becoming law before 2015, or at all, are — as with all private members’ bills — slim. Chong would need a spot on a calendar soon to be crowded with budget measures when the 2014 session kicks into gear, as well as the support of the opposition parties.

It’s a savvy, no-risk move since a) MPs can vote their conscience on private members’ bills anyway and b) it keeps the Backbench Revolt issue in the press. It also makes it look like the Liberals care about the democratic process, at a time when the Tories stand accused of trying to crush it.

Historically, leaders who reach their electoral best-before date have been turfed by their caucuses in parliaments from Australia to Great Britain. The late Dame Maggie Thatcher was not immune; there is no reason to assume that Stephen Harper would be either, if the knives really came out.

The really interesting question is, if it were allowed, who would make the first cut? Chong might be sharpening the blade, but he won’t be the one to wield it.

Tasha Kheiriddin is a well-known political writer and broadcaster who frequently comments in both English and French. In her student days, Tasha was active in youth politics in her hometown of Montreal, eventually serving as national policy director and then president of the Progressive Conservative Youth Federation of Canada. After practising law and a stint in the government of Mike Harris, Tasha became the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and co-wrote the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. Tasha moved back to Montreal in 2006 and served as vice-president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and later director for Quebec of the Fraser Institute, while also lecturing on conservative politics at McGill University. Tasha now lives in Whitby, Ontario with her daughter Zara, born in 2009.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

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Tasha Kheiriddin is a well-known political writer and broadcaster. After practising law and a stint in the government of Mike Harris, Tasha became the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and co-wrote the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. She now hosts a show on Toronto's Talk Radio AM640.